TEHRAN, May 20 (MNA) – Russian Security Council Secretary Sergei Shoigu announced Moscow's readiness to help find the cause of the helicopter crash that led to the martyrdom of Iranian president Ebrahim Raeisi.

Russia is ready to provide assistance to Iran’s investigation into the cause of the helicopter crash that killed Iranian President Ebrahim Raeisi, state news agency RIA quoted Russian Security Council Secretary Sergei Shoigu as saying on Monday, Bussiness Recorder reported.

Earlier, Russian President Vladimir Putin expressed his condolences to Iran’s Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei over the death of Raeisi and called him “a true friend of Russia”.

Iranian President Ebrahim Raeisi and Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian have martyred in a helicopter crash in the northwestern province of East Azarbaijan.

The helicopter carrying President Raeisi and his accompanying delegation crashed on Sunday in the Dizmar forest, nestled between the cities of Varzaqan and Jolfa in East Azarbaijan Province.

It was transporting Raeisi, Amir-Abdollahian, East Azarbaijan Governor Malek Rahmati, Friday Prayers leader of the city of Tabriz Seyyed Mohammad Ali Al-e Hashem , and a member of the president’s bodyguard team Mahdi Mousavi. The helicopter’s pilot, co-pilot and crew were also among others on board the chopper.

President Raeisi and his accompanying delegation were returning from a ceremony to inaugurate a dam on the Aras River with Azerbaijan’s President Ilham Aliyev.

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